Ok, I will post something finally!

  I guess the first thing that happened since my last post was Logan's 27th birthday! It was fantastic, because one day while he was at work, I decorated his apartment with streamers and balloons and a homemade cookie cake (his fave). That afternoon I even dropped him off after work, and when I got two blocks away, I got a call from him thanking me-he really had no idea! What fun-I love surprising others with good things like that. (Pictures to come!)

Next was Halloween-nothing too dramatic this year, just the party at the aquarium and trick-or-treating that night. Lots of sugar and some sore feet from walking that night. Oh yeah, I was dressed up as a candy corn!

In November I took Leila to see "New Moon". There were lots of moms there and plenty of cheers for "team jacob" and "team edward"..............(sigh)...........I like the books, but the movies are only so-so for me.

Thanksgiving was fun-I got to go to Nashville (Brentwood, actually) and spend Thanksgiving with Logan's family. We ate at the best pizza place in the area, Sir Pizza, and played with wiener dog on Wednesday, then on Thursday, I got up and went for a nice run. Then, Logan and I made green bean casserole, mashed potatoes (completely homemade), and deviled eggs. We watched the Macy's Parade and then headed over to a gorgeous 'Gone with the wind' style house and had our turkey-day meal. There was even time for photos, and boy are there some crazy ones!

After that, to wrap up our day, we played some Mario party, and learned that I do not have the fastest fingers in the South, nor does Logan. That title is now shared by Logan's sister and his brother-in-law. Such fun!

WELL, now the countdown is on 'til Christmas, but there is so much to do in the meantime. Presents to wrap, housesitting and babysitting to do, work, laundry, and normal everyday things to take care of. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and the most exhausting!

I met Bryan White!

Back in the days before Logan and Keith Urban, I had a crush on Bryan White. The local radio station in town was sponsoring a free concert with Bryan and I won tickets! It was a great show, and he sang so many of his greatest hits, as well as a song from his new album. Logan was such a great sport about going with me and staying until the end so I could get photos and an autograph, even though he doesn't listen to country music. What a trooper!

So here's what I have been up to...

I have just been having too much fun to remember to let everyone know about it! I promise I will get better at posting more often-I have so much to write about! Logan and I have been several places this past summer. We shared a trip to Nashville to meet his family and his weiner dog, 2 trips to Dollywood, the chance to see the Kratt brothers from Zaboomafoo, a trip to the Lost Sea, a visit to the Mayfield Dairy, a Bryan White concert, trips to the movies (Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D!), and camping in the middle of nowhere Tennessee! There are some great stories in our adventures, and there will be more on each of them - just check out my other blog, "Memories"!

Blame it on Technology...

It's been too long since I have written anything up here, but the computers I have had access to just aren't working with blogger. It's something weird I am sure I won't understand if it was explained to me, so I will just blame it on technology and get over it.

So, a lot has happened since last post. I have been hanging out with Logan (he is so wonderful, couldn't ever meet anyone as selfless or caring or perfect!). My brothers and sisters are back in school, I attended the "World's Longest Yard Sale" with Logan (a first timer there!), my aunt came to visit, the penguin population at work changed several times, and I got a new phone and went with Verizon. More details, you say? Here goes.
I now have 2 siblings in Elementary, 2 in middle school, and 2 in high school. They like the new year so far, but it's still very early. The yard sale was fun, although all I found was little trinkets from 1980's cartoons, but I was excited. The chaos was cut down from 9 days to only 4 days, but that doesn't mean the crazy people still didn't show up. There were folks from California there!

My aunt let two of my siblings go to Baton Rouge with her, and she dropped them back off on her way to DC, she is moving there, looking for work. Best of luck to her.
The penguins at the Aquarium are so fun to work with, but the last month has brought crazy last-minute trips at night and early morning to feed a little chick. Sadly, that chick didn't make it, and of the 4 chicks that have hatched, 2 are still alive. One is 9 weeks old, only a week away from having adult feathers and going for a swim for the first time. I get to bring him/her (I say him, but we still don't know) in the backup area and play with him twice a day. I think he enjoys it, getting out of his playpen area on exhibit and seeing something new. I also preen him, which means I scratch away old feather shafts as the new feathers grow in, and I also keep his beak clean. These are things that penguins in the wild do for each other as a sign of affection. His parents help him preen, but it is a nice way for him to get used to human touch. The other chick is not even 2 weeks old, so it still has a long way to go-so far things look good for it, though!
Oh, and the phone...I switched to verizon, and I like it so far. My new number is 555-1212. (Yeah, like I would put that up there for the world to see!)

Well, until next time (which I promise won't be too far off)!

Happy Birthday America!

Well, July 4th is here........fireworks and food and friends and family and fun! This year I am working the holiday, so the family had the annual cookout a day early. Some highlights were turkey burgers (MUCH better than the traditional hot dogs, in my opinion), water balloons, watermelon, slip-n-slide, s'mores (baked in pizza box ovens that were placed in my car to cook), and squirting our cats and the neighbors dogs with water guns to chase them away from our food! (Don't worry, no animlas were harmed in the making of our holiday dinner, except of course for the turkeys we were eating...)


The quality of my pictures this year is a little lacking, because it was late at night when the festivities were taking place, rather than the middle of the afternoon like last year. The watermelon helmets were a blast, though, and I even put one on this year, something I didn't do last year! Here's to a great holiday, and fabulous rest of the summer!

DollyWood...been there, done that, wanna go back!

Last week we went to DollyWood! Nestled in the mountains of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, it's amazing how quickly you get away from the "tourist trap strip" of the city and feel like you are just wandering in a secluded mountain area. The rides were great, a nice mix of water rides (very welcome in the summer heat) and thrill rides. Mystery Mine is the best! With two upside down loops, one with a two-second hang time, it was my favorite! Logan and I were also able to take in a show...wait for it...Zoboomafoo! The Kratt brothers were there and put on a fun show with a lemur, beaver, zebra, porcupine, kangaroo, fox snake, and python. It was definately worth the trip, and I will be going back again soon!

Rock City Rocks!

It's been a while...let's get this thing going again. About a week or so ago, Logan and I took a trip to Rock City, one of the most scenic spots in Tennessee, (which is pretty funny, since I think it's actually on the Georgia part of Lookout Mountain). We started our morning with the most delicious muffin you could ever find (really, it's that good) and a banana berry Froozie. That's at Greenlife, and the muffin is this Blueberry one made with spelt flour instead of wheat flour. YUM!

Then, we headed up to Rock City and enjoyed a day of birds, pictures, swinging bridges, scenic views, and CREEPY fairy tale characters and moonshine-making gnomes. Oh, Rock City! I even got locked in the fairy tale alleyway, but I have mad skills and I picked the lock and managed to escape.

All in all, a fantastic day!

Do the Dew!

Here's a quick (but rather funny) story about what happened to me this weekend.
I knew that I needed to stay up late Saturday night and get some laundry done. A few weeks ago the washer was broken, and I had about 6 loads of laundry (including bedding) that had piled up during that time. With no time or energy to do it previously, I planned to pull an all-nighter and finish it all in one day. I stopped at Food Lion on the way home to buy some much needed Diet Mountain Dew to keep me company that night. However, the 2 liters were $1.75 each, and the Food Lion Brand was only $0.88. I went with the cheaper of the two, which was cleverly called "Diet Mountain Lion". Big Mistake. The caffeine in the soda did the drink, but it was like drinking cough syrup mixed with orange juice and club soda. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
I drank half the bottle. I needed to stay awake and had nothing else, so I gagged down enough to keep me up until 3 am, then I brushed my teeth like never before, trying to get that awful taste out of my mouth.
The next time I need to stay awake by way of soda, I am doing the Dew. I can't be snobby about the price on soda, because it's worth it to pay for quality. No cheap knock-off brands of Diet Mountain Dew for me, I need the real stuff!

Happy (and a little sleepy and dopey and bashful, all rolled into one!)

It's been a while since I have said hello, so here's an update on me. I just started a new blog.....(yeah, another one!) and I think everyone should check it out. It's at http://a-loribeth-original.blogspot.com/ and it is a place where I can put down my thoughts into stories and poems and articles. My plan is to type up some older things I have written, (from elementary school, even) and to also include new material, as with the first post. I have considered myself a writer for a while, but I haven't written in a while, if that makes sense. I hope some of you who look at it will comment, I like feedback, and I hope you all enjoy reading it.

I also have the blog at http://bugbeth.blogspot.com/ which is a memory page for things I cherish that I would like others to know about. Check it out, too, if you have time!

Nathan graduated! That doesn't happen every day-but I am SO very proud of him and can't believe my little brother is done with high school!

Now, for what's going on with me: The play "A Streetcar Named Desire" ended on May 24, and it was bittersweet. I am sad it's over, but excited for upcoming audtions for "Steel Magnolias" on June 8th!

Speaking of which, June is pretty much here, and that means summer time, swimming, cookouts, roadtrips, and summer camp. I can hardly wait! I get to officially kick off the summer with a baseball game with three of the most important guys in my life, tomorrow night, actually! If only I could get my dad and other brother to go, it would be perfect! I am very happy and look forward to a wonderful summer-spending time with family, friends, and the most amazing guy in the world (aside from Kermit, he's technically a frog, so that doesn't count!). I say "good times: ready or not, here I come!" Check back for photos of upcoming adventures!

A Hole in a Mountain

Okay, so it has been a while since I have posted on here, I know, and so much has happened. I will keep this post focused, though, and tell you about today's trip into Petty Johns Cave in North Georgia. I started out with some crazy gear: no kneepads, a very bright headlamp, extra-large gloves, shoes without much tread, and a bicycle helmet..............but guess what? They all worked just fine. The cave was very wet, seeing as this area has had a lot of rain for the past two weeks, and the mud was incredibly sticky. I stopped twice to tie my shoes on tighter because they would get stuck in the mud and my foot would come out of them when I tried to take the next step! There were lots of passageways in there, all marked with arrows of different colors, probably identifying several different routes. Most that we found proved too narrow for all of us to get through, so it's good we didn't go with a destination in mind, we just tried out 4 or 5 paths, all of which we decided we wanted to know more about before we barreled down them. I had a blast, I was covered in mud from head (and hair) to toe, and I loved how quiet it was inside. The only things that would've made it more enjoyable, would be having less trash in there (people are messy) and having a certain someone there with me. That definately won't be the last time I go caving, but I think I should invest in some better equipment before I crawl in a cave again!

STELLAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, if you have seen "A Streetcar Named Desire" by the great Tennessee Williams, then you know what I am talking about with the title of this post. If you haven't seen it, then you really need to! I am working on that play currently at a community theatre, where I play (very convincingly) a young negro woman, a downtrodden mexican woman, and a strange nurse. (More information and photos to come) Needless to say, that is why my blogging has been pretty pathetic. I want more hours in the day so I can at least put something up on my blog.
Opening night was FABULOUS! It was a great show and the audience was very receptive. Two shows down, 8 more to go. There's no business like show business!

I am Two Dozen

So I recently celebrated my 24th birthday...I say recent, but it was really a month ago...I am so slow with the blogging thing! Anyway, it was a good birthday. I spent the weekend at a Christian Women's Retreat and had a great time relaxing, meeting new people, and getting away from all of life's stresses for a little while.

I didn't ask for anything really, but I got a loaf of freshly made sourdough bread from my favorite bakery, some scented bath salts and soaps, a cute penguin towel, a wonderful dark chocolate cake with cool whip icing, and a stuffed animal penguin from Port Lockroy in ANTARCTICA! (Yep, a co-worker got to go to Antarctica for 2 weeks last month!)

I don't feel that much older, although I realize how fast time is flying by. I plan to not let 24 go by as fast as 23 did...I want to enjoy the little things more and be grateful for my job (I am so, so blessed to do something I love) and my friends (they are so supportive) and my family (a little goofy but I love them all) and all that God gives to me (too numerous to list).

Groovy baby, Groovy!

So I know it's been a while since I posted, but I was busy with a play! I was Groovy Monahan in the show "The Beverly Hillbillies" which closed last weekend. My character got to wear a great costume and dance all the time! I was one of three characters in love with Jethro, and all three of us got to play tug-of-war with him onstage! What a fun time...

I am off to auditions for two different shows this week, so I am hoping to "break a leg", as saying "good luck" actually threatens to bring bad luck in the theatre world...(hopefully that's just a saying!)

I have been busy with work and I think by coworker must be the luckiest person alive...he is leading a trip to Antarctica to see penguins, and his trip is all expenses paid...He is there right now...so lucky...(sigh)

I hope to post good news with the upcoming auditons, so be sure to check back soon!

So, I am going to try this thing called a blog...

I am going to give this blog thing a try. With facebook and Flickr, it seems pretty easy, I want to see if I can navigate through a blog as well. So, my first post will be short, a little bit about myself, and we're good to go.

I work at an Aquarium, and I love every minute of it...even how bad I smell after being around fish all day! I love running, theatre, learning new things, and being outdoors. I am the oldest of eight children, and that has taught me that I want to experience life a little before having my own kids! I love kids, but they are even better when they go home with someone else! I still like dressing up for Halloween, licking the cake batter bowl, and sleeping in until noon (although that rarely happens). I care about the environment and am trying hard to be more eco-friendly. I think everyone else should,too. I am probably too concerned with my weight, but at least I am healthy and active. I think birds are amazing creatures and I think all roaches should die. Who would miss them, really?

Well, enough for the first post, let's see how it goes!